Make Fun Summer Treats with the Zoku Quick Pop Maker

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Last summer we told you about the Zoku Pop Maker ($49.95) and in February we gave it one of our prestigious VIP (Very Innovative Product) Awards. Now for the most part our VIP winners make your life easier or safer but this is one item that just makes life more fun! If you keep the mold cold, your kids can enjoy freshly made homemade ice pops in less than 10 minutes. The treats can be simple one-flavor affairs or fancy multi-layered intricately designed creations good for kids of all ages. If you visit Williams-Sonoma's website you can see some of the beautiful treats you can make with a Zoku.

While the original pop maker makes up to three pops at once, the newest version makes only two, bringing the price down to a more affordable $36.95. There's also a new Character Tool Kit ($14.95) for making super cute cartoon-like faces on your pops. And to help you make unusual flavored pops like Strawberry Shortpop or Key Lime Pie, there's a new Quick Pops cookbook ($16.95).

When we tried the new Character Tool Kit out at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI) we discovered a new trick. We used thickened but not set Jell-O instead of juice! This shortened the time we had to wait before adding additional flavors to form layers and, maybe even better, significantly reduced dripping. Now I know Jell-O isn't quite as healthy as fruit juice and one of the reasons we cited for giving the Zoku a VIP Award was that you could quickly and easily make pops without added sweeteners, flavors, or colors, but if you're tired of cleaning up messy spots from all over the terrace and little T-shirts, you might want to give this method a try.